Davis to supporters: demand payday executive step down

State. Sen. Wendy Davis, the Fort Worth Democrat running for governor, has asked her supporters to sign a petition calling on Gov. Rick Perry to “demand” the resignation of the chair of the Texas Finance Commission.

AUSTIN — The Wendy Davis campaign is calling on its legions of supporters and donors to pressure Gov. Rick Perry to “demand” the resignation of the chair of the Texas Finance Commission, whose controversial remarks in an El Paso Times storyhave put payday lending front and center in the gubernatorial race.

Davis had already called on William White, a vice president for payday lender Cash America who is also the head honcho at the state agency responsible for protecting Texans from predatory lending practices, to step down. Three Houston Democrats earlier this week also urged White to resign

But on Thursday, the Davis camp enlisted the help of its donor network, blasting an email to supporters asking them to sign a petitionto “tell Governor Perry to demand William White’s resignation.”

That petition could ignite tens of thousands of responses to Perry’s office, considering that about 21,000 individual contributorsfrom around the country had given to the Davis campaign as of July 30.

The payday lending issue has spawned more than a week of back-and-forth between Davis and Attorney General Greg Abbott, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor.